You know nothing

in steemit •  7 years ago 

Been on Facebook 10 years after building up a profile on MySpace, Twitter for 7, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube, Snapchat, Reddit... and now, another feather in the Social Media hat, you just signed up at Steem.

You have dreams of waltzing in to take Steem by storm, to show these backyard hacks how social media actually gets done. After all, you have seen the rudimentary user interface, you have read the poor content in Trending and you know you can do much, much better because, you have skills.

If you are already in, you already know that this place isn't like any of the other social medias and acting as if it is, is likely going to result in not very much of what you aim for. The inclusion of money available for everyone makes this place fundamentally different as unlike every other social media, everyone here starts their path already monetized.

What this means is, even if you know what you are doing on the other platforms, competition is already high and, the platform itself is not going to help you get yourself included. You are on your own. At least at the start.

Someone the other day said that they didn't realize earning here was going to be about "who you know". Really? On a social platform who you know didn't seem an important factor?

'Who you know' is one of the most important factors to being successful financially here in the long-term as it is those you know that are likely the ones that are going to be the people supporting with their stake, not an advertiser who has no idea who you are. That means, who you are as a person and how you behave is going to affect this too but, this doesn't necessarily good behavior and people get rewarded, there is plenty of room for scam.

So you have skills? Right, like that is going to help you here. Maybe in the long-term it will but at this point, it is still going to be the who you know that is the most important factor as for the most part, skills need to be demonstrated in order to get support and, without an audience, who is watching?

I hope you brought some cash because the organic audience is not very organic currently and you are likely going to have to buy your way into the eyes of the audience but, this is hit and miss at best also and comes with very little actual audience for long-term actors. You might make some profits though, those you pay definitely will.

Oh, you didn't know about all of the various kinds of bots, never traded cryptocurrencies, don't understand witnesses, or POW, DPOS, Blockchain, Dapps, wallets, reward pools, private keys, hacks, phishing, decentralization, chats, apps, delegation, upvoting, flagging, stake, vests, curation, immutability...

Oh, you are used to all of those management type things being handled for you? Seamless user experience, help desk support, centralized control and bad actors filtered and removed behind the scenes?

You know nothing, Joins Now.

You are in a new world, a free world, an uncensored world. A world where you have responsibility for both present and future but when you step in, the past is still going to affect you and potentially haunt you. Your past and, the past of the stake that is held that can support you or, anyone else over you.

Your content might be brilliant and hailed by all on the free platforms yet here, that means close to zero. You are building from the ground up and even if you bring 100,000 people in from your other platforms, unless you or they buy in, they can't help you too much. They will help those here already though as they push the demand for Steem by increasing the competition on it. How much do you hold?

This is different, this is new and all of those other social medias you have played on before are all possible here plus, much, much more to come. You might have dreams of taking this platform by storm but, in all likelihood, your dreams are going to be dashed on the reality of decentralized freedom, non-algorithmed content discovery and levels of technical and human behavior complexity you are unlikely to have ever encountered before.

There is plenty of good but, there is also a great deal of shady and most likely illegal that goes on in various ways. There are community projects that do their best to help and there are maximizers that do their best to take all they can.

Much like life, there are all types here and your experience and what you consider success is going to depend on what kind of person you are. This could mean you earn very little yet, accomplish your dreams. At the very least, you are going to learn a great deal Joins Now.

You sure you know what you signed up for?

Taraz
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Great summary - I'm going to point newbs I'm trying to explain Steemit to at this post.

One thing that was very different in 2016 was that you could do 10 posts that paid less than 50 cents each and then get over $100 for the 11th one - payouts were so random!

Even though I've nearly been on here nearly two years, I still get a shock when newbs treat me like some sort of wealthy royalty.

It's fun though!

Even though I've nearly been on here nearly two years, I still get a shock when newbs treat me like some sort of wealthy royalty.

I have seen where someone only follow and comment on people over 60 or 50 , something like that . That is an issue where your just looking out for a quick vote a form of spam . as if those people will not realize you have no idea what your talking about . All you have to do is follow the content that you can engage in .

ooohhhh crap I forgot to check your wallet before making this comment to see if I should LOL

I'm pretty middle class!

I mostly don't worry about rep - but 25 ers I avoid like the plague because they are usually fake accounts

I agree about the 25ers . I would be very comfortable in that car . My car is 18 years old and I have no planes to get rid of it . They keep moving the bar on what is middle class . But I do consider myself to be in that group .

Not really sure what I am... 41 rep + 213 followers.

Basically no SP...

You are no more or less then who you are .

rep , VP, SP or followers don't mean anything in who a person is .

When i came at the start of 2017 it was random too except, steem was 8 cents. I didn't know the history or where it was going... Stupid me, I knew nothing.

Thanks for the support :)

Now you really are wealthy royalty!

Time for a new car!

LOL I am going to say the same thing it 2019 except the .28

Very true. In addition the general audience here is very different. Most are crypto fanatics or at least fans and the majority of content is probably still skewed that way. You have to know your audience and being the biggest selling content producer of Facebook/ YouTube etc means nothing if the audience here isn’t interested in your content!

Most are crypto fanatics or at least fans and the majority of content is probably still skewed that way

Yes, and the stake that votes on content is skewed that way too.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Oh, you didn't know about all of the various kinds of bots, never traded cryptocurrencies, don't understand witnesses, or POW, DPOS, Blockchain, Dapps, wallets, reward pools, private keys, hacks, phishing, decentralization, chats, apps, delegation, upvoting, flagging, stake, vests, curation, immutability...

You know nothing, Jon Snow

That was worth the upvote!!! many many minnows when start dont have idea of the things here, some of them need help on the way but the true is that you have to be autodidact , smart and innovate to stand out from the rest

When I read "who you know" in the real world it usually means that you have some connection to an established source of power who isn't available to everyone. My mother-in-law's friend the Supreme Court Justice, my dad's friend the bank executive, and so on.

On Steemit it's more about who you can get to know. I've found so many people here who are actively looking to form relationships with people they never heard of yesterday. That may not last as the user base grows, but all the more reason to make the most of it now.

On Steemit it's more about who you can get to know.

This is right. It is pretty amazing really considering the platform type and money invested here that we can still meet almost anyone. Of course, there is the abusers who DM, memo and rub the big names at every opportunity too...

You are very right

When I first joined Steemit, it felt like I had landed on some alien planet. You're right, it is nothing like anything else out there. I really love the sense of community, it makes it worth overlooking some of the lawlessness.

Don't overlook the lawlessness completely, it is a good way to understand the ecosystem. I have learned more thinking about the negatives than the positives.

Back in mid-autumn, a certain social media mogul (who fits the description you've given here) made a post stating that in order to be "big" on Steemit/Steem blockchain, one must be well-positioned in the standard social media bastions, fb, yt, twitter...

It seemed to make sense, but I felt content to focus on Steemit and just forgot about it.

Fast-forward to today, and apart from a few sporadic posts that have done very well (particularly in their first week or two), it seems their average posts are making $4, with a lot of posts under a dollar... Even as they're boasting about huge success in the business world.

I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled to eventually find myself laughing uncontrollably. No disrespect or "shade" intended on their remarkable off-blockchain accomplishments, but it was simply bizarre to me that some so otherwise popular and successful could flounder so much on here.

Then again, I'm 3 - 5 large supporters away from the same situation, so instead of scoffing, I'm grateful that I've made a connection with them. I've been fortunate, and my moderate success could fizzle at any time.

It has been the same with nearly all of them that have come in. I remember one saying 'do you know who I am?'...

First weeks, the whales are excited they are here and give them some votes and they think it will continue even though they don't offer anything new for the table.

Then again, I'm 3 - 5 large supporters away from the same situation, so instead of scoffing, I'm grateful that I've made a connection with them. I've been fortunate, and my moderate success could fizzle at any time.

MY luck comes and goes. Lately, it is a little more gone than here but, that is the ebb and flow. It is also part of the issue with very few large manual curators in the waters reading and observing what is going on.

@tarazkp Fabtastic read and pretty much right on point. I’ve only been on one month and I’m learning every day. Things to do or not to do. Trying to network as best I can. Times to post. I also bought some Steem to help give me a tiny leg up which I think has helped a tad. But yeah...lots of things I was unaware of. Just means I have to grind through it and keep on soaking and absorbing information. There are plenty of great folks here who are willing to help with advice. At least in the circles I’m running around in here which is kinda geek culture. Anyway, I’ll be checking out your stuff. This is a great read and I resteemed it as I hope new fish will look it over and take some the info given here and utilize it better than just running around asking for follow for follow and shit like that.

I think for the curious, this place is a wealth of experience and interesting things to observe. Find the right people to interact with and slowly spiral outward into building a larger community and the benefits will come.

@tarazkp Definitely. What other advice would you have. I feel as though I’m posting mostly decent content. There is some filler for now as I’m trying to see what sticks, but I’m posting original and informative content. I’m trying to use the chats but find mostly any interaction I’m aiming for goes unanswered. Discord I’m stull figuring out as it’s a tad confusing. Ive signed up and sponsored @steembasicincome for a few folks that I like what they have to say. I’m upvotibg and trying to interact through comments sections here to try to branch out and strike up meaningful and informative conversations. Feel like I’m chevking boxes off. Anything else you’d recommend me doing or not doing? Any honest advice welcome. Thx man.

As one of @sift666's Steemit newb mates, he sent me this post. Thanks to you both. Very well put. I've said to him that his explanations have done nothing to shake my belief that this is just Lord of the Flies. That's fine for now, I'll still play a bit. But we might need a bigger boat for the escape/rescue

2018-05-15_121803.jpg.

All of life these days is lord of the flies, here it just more visible.

I've been tinkering around on here for about two months, and yep, I know nothing still. One thing I have realized is that it has to be a labor of love. I don't see any significant success in my future, but I love what I do, and I'm going to be doing it somewhere. Might as well be here, where I might make something...eventually.

One day, you will sit back and realise how far you have come and how far others have pushed you too. At least, I think your kids will have better experiences because of it.

This was good. I'm glad I didn't know so much when I started or I likely would have thought it too uphill, and I was lucky to be recognized right away as a singer-songwriter. The hard thing here, though, is that unless you have a huge personal holding yourself, it's nearly impossible to keep any traction; you have to constantly build, even with those already following (and we all know a lot of people leave the platform, too, so there is that).

I haven't cracked the code yet. I'd love to trend one day, but really only desire to do so organically, and that's increasingly impossible as things develop.

But Steemit has been really good to me, and gave me a chance to share my music with a totally new and often incredibly supportive audience, and got me into the crypto world, so I'm a mostly happy camper!

The hard thing here, though, is that unless you have a huge personal holding yourself, it's nearly impossible to keep any traction; you have to constantly build, even with those already following (and we all know a lot of people leave the platform, too, so there is that).

This is the same with any small business and the attrition rate in business is close to 80 after 4-5 years. Here, it is much easier to drop since there is no loan to take, no shop to close, just walk away.

I haven't cracked the code yet. I'd love to trend one day, but really only desire to do so organically, and that's increasingly impossible as things develop.

Changes may come that shift this again. Currently, almost impossible organically, you are right.

Isn't life in the real world all about who you know who can then help you place what you know.

Community carrying each other is not a bad thing and I like learning from others as I've said many times. I learn a bit all the time here and have realised that merely coasting through with little effort won't cut it, contribute or stay behind. I like that this community platform forces you to think in order to positively contribute which in turn rewards you.

Sounds like a good lesson for youngsters.

This was a great read. In the few short days I have been a member of Steemit, I have met some wonderful people. I've also met some not-so-wonderful people. In the days of the who and what you know scenarios, a good combination can exist, in my belief. Not knowing anyone from any of my other social media platforms on here feels so risky to me. I feel vulnerable at times, but I also feel like a free spirit flying in the wind ready to catch that on big giant burst of a breeze that will help carry me through Steemit.

Not knowing anyone from any of my other social media platforms on here feels so risky to me.

It is a strange social experiment where one doesn't have to carry their past with them. It should be freeing in a way.

This is true

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

:) I like how you didn't make a fluffy sunshine and rainbows rose-colored glasses version of the welcometosteemit post ;)

Lol, you mean, the american dream?

So true. Despite the pay for upvote bots raping the reward pool and Flag wars it’s still a great place although It’s a shame we’ve lost so many great Steemians along the way but as long as they don’t lose their keys some will come back.

I think many will come back, especially the ones that didn't fully powerdown. In early start ups, attrition is always going to be a problem and because people think this is like other social medias, they expect it to behave like other social medias. It isn't the case at all.

I think if there was some way of searching for content based on engagement (like comments, not upvotes), and views, it would be a step in the right direction.

I think the biggest challenge right now is that it is difficult for the content that people actually want to see to show up on the trending page without bots, and it's kind of sad that so much great content just gets buried by those doing shady stuff.

The filters will come, remember that steemit isn't Steem. there will be many more interfaces.

The first months on steemit tends to wake one up. When you realise that there are superb content creators all over the place enjoying low payout and you find that who you know has more value than what you know, you have no choice but to change tactics.

It is always a surprise to find that there a few persons who care about your skills. One who has done his or her homework will seek solutions immediately and the rest will complain.

Steemit is not a gift sharing outfit. Work smart, interaction and you win.

Steemit is not a gift sharing outfit.

Many come in expecting handouts and charity and complain when the big fish don't fill small hands. The big fish also tend to forget that their comment votes on themselves can feed families for weeks in some places too. There are so many conflicts here similar where the visibility displays what people only suspected before. It is not that her is different to the real world, it is just that it is more easily seen.

Ah, I actually saw this challenge and was thinking you'd be good to do such a post. Turns out I was right :P

This could mean you earn very little yet, accomplish your dreams. At the very least, you are going to learn a great deal Joins Now.

I think this is very true. I relate to a lot of the things you wrote, I still don't know a lot of things, but I am learning and I understand more and more that despite all the...sticky stuff here, I'm pretty lucky to be here. And I hope I can help this place grow ;)

By the way, I love what you did there. Took me a few seconds, must admit. Love it.

I don't meme so well ;P

This is an unofficial, unannounced entry into the competition as I think what was needed was more shill for the comp.

The future is surprisingly bright despite the gloom often cast.

Well, I think I would've liked to read this, when I first joined Steemit, although I would've probably found it a bit hard to follow (and maybe a bit harsh), but it would've opened my eyes, I hope, to some things a bit sooner.

The future is surprisingly bright despite the gloom often cast.

I hope so.

freedom can be a bitch . It means who have to take responsibility for your action and make your own way .You reap what you sow .

Who you know has always played a part in life . Whether it's for a job or where to by something . We get input from the ones we know on a daily basis . So why should here be any different

Yes, people don't think about the friends discounts on a hair cut, or a free coffee for being polite. People matter in the real world too and I wish they mattered even more here.

I have always liked one thing about steemit that everybody starts the same here. You literally are on the same boat as the next guy. I am not talking about the SP you start with. What I saying is that the connection that you have to build from scratch here. In that sense the system is quite fair.
Sure there are faults. Sure one can buy votes. Sure one can bring in a ton of SP and start abusing it......... Theses kind of things are common in the world as well.
Let's face it - Steemit is not the most popular social media platform out there. Being small time has it's own perks and the big time players have even bigger challenges to face. I am not really sure if steemit is ready for them. I would obviously love to be a part of the world where steemit is one of the top ten visited websites in the world, but.............
98% population on steemit are small fries like me and I am competing for my share against them.

PS: You mentioned how a newbie can have a naive idea of taking steemit by storm. My latest post on my blog is on a similar topic. I would love to have your feedback on it, if you get the time.

It is hard to me to listen to some of the complaints of people at times (although I do understand where the y come from as it isn't easy) because of the work I have put in. People say it was different times and that is true however, I have worked my ass off day in and throughout the nights to get to this point.

It is not an easy place to build but, what really is? Starting a business? Getting return on youtube or instagram? Like anything, some get lucky, some invest themselves and there are risks here like anywhere else.

Those who are here and have invested themselves well will likely see large returns that will decline and get harder to achieve over time. It is still very early days.

I will drop by soon :)

I think about that too - about it being easier two years ago. The point is that I should have joined then and not waste all that time watching anime :D
It was difficult then and it is difficult now - once I made my peace with this fact, it became easier to concentrate and make some progress here.

Thanks. I would really appreciate your thoughts on that.

Hi Taraz. Quite a mouthful. But all true. I think that you have to learn to be streetwise /steemwise. You have to know the basics but yes it is a bit like the real world. Who you know and not what you know counts on here. I didn't realize that at first and maybe I have just been lucky with the people I hang out with on here. Who would've thought I would know so many Finns. I didn't know one until I joined on here. Yes you are an Aussie Finn so you are still an outsider. You have helped me so much and I will when I get bigger also help new members wherever I can. Sounds like a kid saying when I grow up I know but you are nothing without power.
I have been on here for 60 days and had no idea what I had jumped into.

Who would've thought I would know so many Finns.

Lol. and you found talkative ones, rare as hen's teeth.

I have been on here for 60 days and had no idea what I had jumped into.

I think many people here for a year or two still don't understand what they have discovered.

Enter this platform is a new experience, you start from scratch and to grow costs, however much you focus is an ant work, you enjoy but you cry, There are so many details that if the bots, cured, delegations, if the power of vote ... Finally every day you learn something and you find out about 100 new things. But firm in the fight!

there is a lot to learn and a lot to change but, perhaps there will also be a lot to gain by learning and changing.

Without a doubt, already in a short time I feel that I learn and that I win much.

I love the GOT reference and when I joined Steemit indeed that was the feeling.

It was easy as 1, 2,3 they say post something that you do in Facebook and get rewarded.

Then you read all the guides and realize you know nothing.
You join all those discord communities and hear the witnesses talk and realize you know nothing
you stumble upon posts like the dust threshold and you really know nothing
You find the good people and yuo find the bad ones as well and you just try to focus on the good. You refuse to play the game and you get left behind because you know nothing.

You stick by your goals and say to yourself it is not a sprint it is a marathon and you build yourself up, start to know something and hopefully be content as you continue with your journey to your definition of success and according to your beliefs.

You now know something.

I don't know where it all leads, I don't know if I have made a mistake and should have been bidboting from the start, I don't know if support will go up or down from this point but, it is in all of these uncertainties that opportunity lays and perhaps one day, we will all look back at these days as teething pains.

Dragosroua was running a challenge and two of the challenges he presented there was how do we see Steemit in 5 years and and the other was what is more important Hive Mind or SMT.

Being a community minded person I of course answered that Hivemind and communities are important, that I hope that it will be the key to better engagement, getting posts more visibility and some sort of way to make things better. Honestly I think we are at the tipping point.

Have you read this one? @ned even commented on it and gives me some hope

https://steemit.com/steem/@nairadaddy/good-person-token-something-big-is-coming-from-steemit-inc

Yes, I was pointed to it and the interesting bit from @ned was about the oracles:

Bid bots and collusion can violate the Constitution (Expected Behavor Writ) of the oracles’ whitelisting — and therefore those people will be consider “bad actors” and will be barred (not whitelisted) from participation in GPT Rewards

Raw truth at its finest. Impeccably perceptive on how the platform behaves when one first arrives.

You are on your own. At least at the start.

This is the part that all of those illusory YouTube videos always manage to leave out of their pitch when they are showing their latest great post hit 400.00 (usually failing to mention most of that was their money handed to bots to hand back too).

There are community projects that do their best to help and there are maximizers that do their best to take all they can.

Water rises to its own level. If one manages to begin gaining a foothold here it will reflect who they are. Sadly most do not stay long enough to figure that out as they never swallow the pill they start off alone as you pointed out.

Your posts always provoke one to question the motives we operate from. Not everyone will come to the conclusions that lead to community projects or choosing to be that which one would want from others. But if one is open to those ideas, your words help shape a narrative that clears the confusion in deciding.

It's a shame this post could not be pinned to the initial login for all new users to help destroy whatever they believe they know about Steemit when getting here.

Water rises to its own level. If one manages to begin gaining a foothold here it will reflect who they are. Sadly most do not stay long enough to figure that out as they never swallow the pill they start off alone as you pointed out.

I think that in time, it will be harder to earn but easier to operate. Earnings will spread wider but with much lower peaks and for the most part, not many of the latecomers will have a chance at more than pocket money. But, there will be a lot of value and true talent will shine.

not many of the latecomers will have a chance at more than pocket money.

The other day I was reading a post someone wrote up on getting their garden ready. I asked some questions (I have had a dream of farming alchemy for years) and turns out we both had childhood experiences on farms and reminisced a little. In the midst of all this exchange, a small amount of money was created and given to both of us. For an exchange I would have had for free. I got paid a few cents for a nice exchange and to learn. And it strengthened my connection with this person as we have grown to see we have this interest in common.

I believe that as the platform grows, one day there will be many of us who have stronger accounts. Becoming parts of the foundations we are drawn to so that they can accommodate those seeking to find a home there. One day my account will be as strong as yours. Might take years. But I am not going anywhere.

i think all of these small transactions will add up and if used wisely will fundamentally change how the world operates and interacts.

Ha, awesome!

Upvoted for the meme, stayed for the read :)

See, I can kinda meme... sorta

Man, this should be included in the Steem Whitepaper!

You have clearly nailed it in this post,i have been contemplating writing a similar post and boom ....i will now write my post and link to this post!

I see guys come here and want to rake money in 1 month....like WTF and they think Steemit is different from life.
They start complaining right from the start....will refer all newbies here man.

Your content might be brilliant and hailed by all on the free platforms yet here, that means close to zero. You are building from the ground up and even if you bring 100,000 people in from your other platforms, unless you or they buy in, they can't help you too much.

Well said,i see mfs keep telling themselves of how great their content is and i just give them this look below!
U5dsemUmhd6EjBdehRUHZ2XMwPqgeN4.gif

This is a completely new world which people have to accept and its decentralised!

You might have dreams of taking this platform by storm but, in all likelihood, your dreams are going to be dashed on the reality of decentralized freedom, non-algorithmed content discovery and levels of technical and human behavior complexity you are unlikely to have ever encountered before.

Let me just go write my post hehehe.

I am just starting on this platform and I must say that steemit is another level in networks can not be compared with any other, here you get to know any number of people and important issues for development in steemit

Lol, so you're telling me I know nothing? My friend, I could have told you that from the beginning, I mean sometimes it feels like I'm unlearning at a faster rate than I'm learning.😂 Cheers for the truthful pleasant read, good way to start the day off.

First thing I thought about when I read this was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

You are right, Steemit is basically a social media that reflects the experience in real life.

This isn't utopia?

Better than dystopia!

Before joining Steemit I tried many website to earn money. But I didn't find reliable site to earn. But finally I found Steemit. That works really fine for me. It is the future of my life.

Great post! The whole piece sounds like a monologue from a movie; similar to Alec Baldwins from Glengarry Glenn Ross. Definitely a must-read for anyone new to Steem.

I am very sure!

Interesting take....and yes, it did hit the trending page.....cheers mate

Myspace... I remember. Good old time ;)

Exactly why most people leave the platform. They think it will be easy, posting a few selfies and BOOM. But here it's very different, nobody cares about how you look or what you ate for lunch. It takes lots of networking a nd hard work!